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Making the world smile One Sweet Treat at a timeTue, 19 May 2015 15:58:56 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.2.2Banana Cupcakes With Pomegranate Butter Cream Frostinghttp://bakingchic.com/2015/05/19/banana-cupcakes-with-pomegranate-buttercream-frosting/
http://bakingchic.com/2015/05/19/banana-cupcakes-with-pomegranate-buttercream-frosting/#commentsTue, 19 May 2015 15:49:59 +0000http://bakingchic.com/?p=5511

Hello you! I got a basic but yummy cupcake recipe for you today

I made some Banana bread for the family last week. I used the same recipe I posted awhile back here I whipped up some butter cream to turn these muffins into cupcakes. The Pomegranate juice, I simply squeezed over the top of the frosting for a pretty garnish. Be sure to hold off to squeeze the juice until your ready to serve, the frosting does seem to fall after time from the juice.

These little cupcakes are oh so yummy and fun. Something great for a birthday or a tea party!

Happy Baking!

~ Marie

10 Minute Banana Bread:

Makes 1 full-sized loaf or 2 regular muffin tins.

Preheat the oven to 350.

In one bowl, combine :1/2 stick (4-5 tablespoons) butter, softened

2 eggs

2 or 3 very ripe bananas

2/3 cup sugar

Use a potato masher, fork, or spoon to squish the banana and mix the ingredients together. It is alright for there to be small (1 centimeter) chunks of banana in the batter, but you want most of the banana to be reduced to mush.

In another bowl,

combine: 1 1/3 cup all-purpose unbleached flour

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

Combine the wet and dry ingredients and mix until the ingredients are blended together.

If you like, stir in additional ingredients here, such as chopped walnuts or pecans.

Pour the dough into greased baking pans and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Small loaves take around 30 minutes, a normal-sized loaf takes around 50 minutes.

Remove from the oven. This bread is great warm, but it is excellent cold too.

After they have cooled for 5 or 10 minutes the loaves can be removed from the pan to cool. Once they are cool they can be individually wrapped and frozen.

Beat softened butter in a electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Add confectioner sugar, 1/2 cup at a time until completely combined whipping for 10 minutes on high. Add the vanilla and beat until smooth.

A Brioche like pastry that is slightly sweet. Perfect for a breakfast treat or a late afternoon snack.

It all started when my Honey Man was looking through one of my baking books that I had lying around. The title, Bake! by Nick Malgieri. He glanced at one of the recipes, smiled and asked me to make it for him. I have had Conchas at the Mexican bakery before and loved them. I didn’t know how much more I would love these sweet rolls homemade.

*Beware, I took a lot of photos of the process

Happy Baking Everyone!

~Marie

Recipe adapted from Nick Malgieri

Conchas

Makes 12

Brioche Dough

SPONGE

1/2 cup milk

2 1/2 teaspoons (1 envelope) active dry yeast

1/2 cup warm tap water, about 110 *f.

3/4 cup bread flour ( I used regular all purpose flour )

CONCHA TOPPING

6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar

2/3 cup unbleached all – purpose flour

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 teaspoons cocoa powder.

DOUGH

2 large eggs, at room temperature

2 large egg yolks, at room temperature

3 tablespoons sugar

All the sponge, above

2 cups bread flour, (again I used all purpose flour )

1 teaspoon salt

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened.

Directions For the SPONGE

1.Warm the milk in a small pan over low heat; pour it into a bowl and put aside to allow to cool to 100* F.

2. Whisk the yeast into the warm water in a medium bowl. Wait 2 minutes, then whisk again to make sure all the yeast has dissolved. Whisk in the cooled milk. Use a rubber spatula to stir the flour into the liquid. Cover the bowl with a towel and let the sponge ferment until more than doubled, about 30 minutes.

Directions For Dough

3. Once the sponge has risen, use a rubber spatula to break up the eggs and yolks in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook. Stir in the sugar. Scrape in the risen sponge into the bowl and mix it into the eggs. Add the flour and salt to the bowl and stir in. Mix on medium speed until the dough comes away from the sides of the bowl, 3 to 4 minutes.

4. Add a third of the butter and continue mixing until the butter is completely absorbed. Repeat with the remaining two thirds of the butter, mixing to incorporate after each addition.

5. Continue to mix until the dough is very smooth, elastic, and shiny, 4 to 5 additional minutes.

6. Scrape the dough into a buttered bowl and turn it over so that the top is buttered. Cover with a towel and let rise until doubled in size, about 30 to 45 minutes.

Directions For Topping

7. To make the topping, beat the butter in an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on medium speed. Decrease the speed to low and beat in the confectioners’ sugar and flour. Mix until smooth, then scrape the bowl and beater. Increase the speed to medium and beat in the vanilla extract. Beat for a few seconds longer, then scrape the topping, which should have the consistency of a soft dough, to a lightly floured work surface. Roll the topping into a ball and cut in half. kneed the cocoa powder into one half to color it.

8. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside. Set a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 375*F.

9. Once the dough has finished rising. Form the dough into 12 round buns. For best results, flour your hands, rather than the work surface or the dough. This helps you shape the dough more accurately. Arrange the buns on the prepared pan and cover them with a tea towel. Let them rise for, 10 to 30 minutes, depending on the starting temperature of the dough. While the buns are rising, form each piece of the topping into a flat 21/2 inch disk, pressing it with the palm of one hand to shape.

10. Once the buns have risen a little, flatten out each one and press a disk of the topping against it. Use a paring knife with the blade perpendicular to the topping to press 5 equidistant lines through only the topping. Press in 5 more lines at a 45 – or 90 degree angle to the first set of lines. Cover the buns with a tea towel and let rise until doubled in size. Bake for 20 minutes, keeping an eye on them, until golden brown. Cool and serve. *If you like, you can freeze your buns after baking, and rewarm them in the oven so as if they were right out of the oven.

No, they are not twins but they sure look like twins. My sister and I get asked often whenever we are out together. They are double cousins, (brothers married sisters but in this case, twin sisters.)

Winston, (my nephew) is 10 months older then Ezra . They share a lot of similarities which crack us up. They both love to play kitchen. One making and serving the food, the other eating it. Their most fun is when they feed their big stuffed dog, ” Bar Dog”, (he likes to eat BBQ ) and he makes a big a mess.

When I was younger I read a book about two twin sisters, that were separated at birth. They ended up meeting when their daughters accidentally met. The daughters looked like identical twins. I told my twin Elizabeth, how fun it would be if we had kids that looked alike. We never even dreamed that we would end up marrying brothers and actually having “twin” like sons.

The last time I posted shortbread cookies on the blog, my two little boys were much smaller, practically babies. I look back now and smile because they were so CUTE!! You can visit the recipe if you like, here

We are making Shortbread again! Another Shortbread recipe with Jam! Many moves later, many changes, but we still share the same love, SHORTBREAD!

Don’t let these little boys fool you, they look nice and sweet in the pictures below, but I had to defend these cookies from being

LICKED,

POKED,

PICKED

AND

EATEN,

before I could place them on the cookie sheet! They sure make life so much fun,

In a large bowl cream the softened butter with an electric mixer until smooth. And sugar and mix until fluffy; add salt and flour until fully combined. Sprinkle powdered sugar on a surface. With a rolling pin, roll out dough until it is 1/4 inch thick. Cut out cookies and place on cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool cookies on cooling rack for 5-10 minutes. Once fully cooled, spoon a little dab of your favorite jelly on your shortbread.

Carrot Cake is my favorite cake, well I have a lot of favorites but Carrot Cake is on my top favorites list!

It also happens to be my hubby’s favorite cake by far, which allows me to have a fantastic excuse to make it often!!
The roasted pecans literally melt in my mouth. When I take a bite, the clouds open and the sun shines on my face and the world is wonderful. Okay, I may just be a little ridiculous and crazy over this cake

With a standup mixer beat eggs until frothy. Add sugar, mix until well combined resembling a light color of yellow. Add the oil and vanilla and mix until completely combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Next add the flour mixture and beat on low until just incorporated. Fold in pecans, raisins and carrots using a spatula.

Hello, Hello!! Whew, well a few months have past since my last post, (time sure does fly too quickly) and I am trying to not let that stop me from posting here! I guess it feels like I am visiting my home, that has been closed for a long time. I have had such a longing to get this blog back up and running. So here is my attempt to begin…

I have a cake recipe that I will share, I baked it before Christmas, but never got to posting it ha!

My dear Ezra is now 4 years old today. What a delight he is and how grown up he has become. I cherish the little hugs that he gives me every evening, his squeezes and kisses, his snuggles in the morning and even the times he gets tired from climbing the 3 stories of stairs in our complex and wants me to hold him still. Ezra has a gentle way about him, a generous nature, he is a boy of peace and always seems to make peace wherever he goes. His favorite foods are eggs, duck and bunny pancakes, sausage, pizza, curry, cupcakes and candy. His favorite things to do; play with his stuffed skunk, pillow fights, legos, taking walks, building stuffed animal houses and playing with his big brother and cousin.

Well, I had never heard of them either, but when I did find out about them, I was extremely curious to try one. Knowing that I would not be visiting Sweden any time soon, I thought it best to figure out how to make them myself. I tried looking up a recipe, but found it difficult because some recipes didn’t make their own almond paste, (I didn’t want to have to buy almond paste) and one recipe I liked, was just way too small; (I wanted to make a lot) So with a little bit of testing, I found myself adjusting and adding here and there to fit my likeness. I tried for the most part to stay true to the Swedish Semlor. So, I have for you my adaptation to the now famous (to me) Swedish Semlor.

Let me describe these rolls for you : They are soft, warm, almost resembling a profiterole but not quite, seasoned with cardamon. The filling inside is a nutty baklava like paste that is made of almonds and cardamon. The taste of cardamon comes through very nicely and complements all the flavors with a smooth rich ending of whipped cream.

On low heat, melt butter and milk together in a sauce pan until fully combined. Let it come to room temperature.

In a separate bowl, mix together 2 1/2 teaspoons of yeast with 1/4 cup warm water and sugar. Mix until yeast is fully dissolved. Let sit for 10 minutes.

Once butter and milk mixture have come to room temperature, add yeast mixture and stir.

Grind cardamon seeds using pestle and mortar and mix into flour, baking powder and salt until fully combined.

Next mix together yeast mixture with flour mixture. Once combined pour out onto a floured surface to kneed for about 10 minutes. Use extra flour to keep dough from sticking to hands. After ten minutes of kneading, dough should be elastic and soft.

Place your dough in a floured bowl and cover with a tea towel to rise for 1 hour.

Once dough has risen punch it down using your fist. Start rolling out small balls and place on a cookie sheet with parchment paper, cover with a tea towel for 10 -15 minutes.

Mix together 1 egg + 1 tablespoon of water, brush egg wash on rolls.

Place in oven for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.

Once Rolls are in the oven, make the almond paste:

Almond Paste Filling

Place 1/4 cup almonds on cookie sheet and roast for 2-3 minutes at 350 degrees. Make sure almonds roast and not burn. Next chop roasted almonds up until they resemble coarse like crumbs. Put aside.

Using a blender, grind 1 cup of raw almonds until almonds become flour-like. Combine almond flour, roasted almonds, powdered sugar, 1 egg white, vanilla and a pinch of salt until it becomes a paste. Pour a couple of splashes of cream if it is too dry.

Using a pestle and mortar grind cardamon seeds and add to the almond paste.

Once your rolls are out of the oven, using a serrated knife, cut off the tops of the buns. With a spoon, scoop out the crumbs of the buns and make a well. Save the crumbs and combine to the almond paste.

Once all of your rolls are ready for filling, fill with almond paste.

In another bowel, whip heavy cream and powdered sugar and vanilla until stiff. Pipe the whipped cream on top of the filled buns. Top the buns with their lids and decorate using powdered sugar.

August 20th Officially marks the first day of this little lads day of Kindergarten. I can’t believe Zane is already beginning school. He was very proud about being able to take his school pictures with me today. He is very enthusiastic about school as well. Because we are homeschooling him, his school already started this last year, but its fun to make it official with the school season now beginning. He loves writing and is thoroughly amazing at it. His math is coming along well, he loves that he gets to eat his math problems. He is also enjoying the fact that he gets his mommy to teach him as well as his Aunty Elizabeth now that we are back in Jacksonville. His daddy can’t help it either, he loves spending the evenings with him going over his letters and helping with his work book.

I Love you Zane. You truly are such a gift from the Lord. God is so gracious to give you to us.

Cherry Scone aroma has drifted through my house and met my nose this last week and not only pleased me, but gave me such a great excuse to have tea with my sister!

After I made these scones and they were in the oven baking, I pulled out my nice linen table cloth my mom gave me, (thanks Mom) opened my china cabinet door and chose my special delicate tea cups that were a gift from a life long friend Roxy, (thanks Roxy)! My sister Elizabeth and I were able to have a blissful sit-down time together.

These scones were not only delicious, but also captured a wonderful memory

My sister Elizabeth made some amazing pomegranate scones which has inspired me so much to start a series with her all about scones.

Cherry Scones 2 Cups Flour1/3 Cup Sucanat or whatever sugar – sweetener you have on hand 1 Teaspoon Baking Powder1/4 Teaspoon Baking Soda1/2 Teaspoon Salt1 Stick Cold Butter1 Egg1/2 Cup Yogurt or Half & Half 1 Cup chopped CherriesDirections Preheat Oven 400Using a whisk, mix flour, Sugar, Baking Powder, Baking Soda and Salt to combine. Dice up the stick of butter, with a Pastry Cutter, cut butter into flour mixture until you have course crumbs. Crack your egg and whisk together with yogurt and pour into flour mixture, stir with fork . Next mix cherries and stir until just combined. ( don’t over mix)Pour dough onto work surface and cut two portions out and form into two round spheres. Place both spheres onto cookie sheet and cut into fourths. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Enjoy!